


Mirrors

by stephanericher



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-10
Updated: 2015-12-10
Packaged: 2018-05-06 00:39:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5396243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stephanericher/pseuds/stephanericher
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>His lips are warm and slick with deep-fryer grease, and Tatsuya lets them linger on his mouth even though there’s no reflection to shield them and they’re trapped in the open summer air.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mirrors

**Author's Note:**

> himukaga 12/10/15

The carnival is Alex’s idea, a way for the kids she teaches to relax and hang out while raising money for a good cause, and Taiga goes for it faster than an offensive rebound. It’s much more his speed than some kind of gala is, and it’ll probably be just as effective raising money for his charity—after all, he’s meeting the proceeds himself and his agent’s talked him into advertising that he’s sponsoring it and that he’ll be there.

Still, very few kids are willing to be up and about at the start time of eight AM on a summer day, so while there are some there it’s mostly Alex’s students who already know Taiga and are used to him. It’s still low-key enough for Taiga to stick to Tatsuya’s side, and for Tatsuya to thoroughly enjoy his attentions without worrying about being seen. Still, it’s not as if they can just do whatever they want like this—it would be nice if they had somewhere to hide away for a few seconds, to tap into some of the tension that’s been simmering between them since before breakfast when Taiga had planted sloppy kisses all over Tatsuya’s back in an effort to stop him from leaving the bed.

The crew had set up a miniature fun house; it’s apparently a labyrinth inside with all sorts of crazy mirrors—and it’s free with admission, so there will probably be kids traipsing in and out all day. But right now none of them are interested; right now it’s free and empty, and Taiga’s been casting a few fairly obvious glances over at it since they’d gotten there.

“You want to have a look at the fun house, hmm?” says Tatsuya, nudging Taiga with an elbow to the side.

“Let’s go check it out,” says Taiga, and he is not being subtle at all.

His fingers are less than an inch away from Tatsuya’s, and even as they walk Tatsuya can feel the way they twitch in anticipation, the way the air moves—even if he couldn’t, the way Taiga’s picking up the pace (even relative to his long legs) is so, so obvious—and they’re lucky they’re mostly surrounded by oblivious kids who can’t be bothered to focus on them for more than a few seconds when there’s a bouncy castle and open space to run around and play basketball.

The so-called fun house is huge; it’s almost impressive considering they put it up in one night, even if it is all cheap snap-together plastic on top of bare asphalt and dirt with a ceiling that’s barely nominal. As soon as they’re through the door and before Tatsuya’s vision can adjust to the dark, Taiga’s fingers are entwined in his and he’s already pressing up against Tatsuya, chest to chest and thigh-to-thigh. Tatsuya squirms free, pulling Taiga along and bumping along the defective mirrors—besides showing warped and squashed visions of the hall and the two of them, the mirrors reflect the weak sunlight streaming in through the cracks in the roof and magnify its effect, illuminating the narrow passage through the labyrinth enough so they can see around them without too much trouble. Taiga whines, sound catching in the back of his mouth and glancing off the walls; Tatsuya presses on around one corner and another. he catches the glint in Taiga’s eyes in the wall curved to create a fish-eye effect; even through the transformation it’s clear enough and Tatsuya doesn’t want to meet it and ignore it for another second in good conscience. He stops.

Taiga spins him around and into his arms, the soles of Tatsuya’s boots putting up minimal resistance against the floor. Taiga nuzzles the side of his neck, pulling him closer—Tatsuya’s standing on tiptoes, and he has to reach up to steady himself against Taiga’s shoulder. Taiga’s holding him as if he’s been away for months with no contact, as if he’s relearning the shape of his body, as if he’ll never let Tatsuya go for any reason if he can help it.

And then Taiga’s lips press against his; unlike his touch it’s not urgent at all. The pressure is light, soft like walking through powdery late-winter snow. His fingers unfurl against the small of Tatsuya’s back; Tatsuya’s fingers brush against the bottom of Taiga’s hairline and Taiga sighs, breaking the kiss.

“What brought this on?” says Tatsuya.

He lowers himself back onto his heels, still gazing into Taiga’s eyes. Taiga’s smiling, the shadow of his lips clear from this angle. He strokes Tatsuya’s thumb.

“Nothing, really. I just wanted to.”

His gaze is every bit as soft as his kiss; Tatsuya feels suddenly exposed, alone in the dark as they are—and all of this would be seemingly so much more appropriate if they were fifteen (and actually together at that age), but they’re twice as old as that and counting, long since used to being together like this.

“Greedy,” Tatsuya says, quietly enough for the words to barely vibrate on his tongue.

Taiga’s forehead creases. “Should I…?”

“Please keep doing it,” Tatsuya says, and this time he lets a full grin show through as he squeezes Taiga’s hand.

Taiga’s shoulders relax; the shoulders of the distorted reflections relax, too (some more exaggerated than others). The sounds from outside are muffled; Tatsuya threads his fingers through Taiga’s hair. And then a metallic clatter echoes off the walls; someone on one end has opened up a door. Taiga makes no move to pull away and so Tatsuya steps back, lowering his hand from Taiga’s neck. The other remains trapped in Taiga’s fingers; they hear careless footsteps approach and finally Tatsuya extracts himself.

Alex stops a few feet in front of them to push up her glasses and sigh the way she always does.

“I figured you’d be in here.”

“Do we need to come back out?” Tatsuya says.

“Taiga does,” says Alex. “Sorry.”

“It’s my event,” Taiga says, rubbing the back of his neck. “I should.”

He reaches for Tatsuya’s hand again; Tatsuya takes it. They follow Alex out to the entrance; before the last corner when the door is still closed Tatsuya pulls him back and kisses him again, purposefully brushing the tip of his nose against Taiga’s before sinking back down.

Taiga’s agent is waiting for them; she ushers him over to a group of waiting children and their parents. They immediately begin to exclaim over him, and Taiga’s posture shifts.

Alex pats Tatsuya on the shoulder.

“Do I look all forlorn and lovestruck?” says Tatsuya.

“No, but I know you,” says Alex.

Tatsuya flicks his eyebrow upward, but says nothing.

* * *

The construction crew has dismantled the funhouse by the time they’d get another chance to go in; by that point it’s late and the sun has disappeared behind a distant high-rise anyway. The families are dissipating, and Taiga’s agent has gone on to something with another client. Taiga and Tatsuya divide up the cold, greasy leftovers from the food stand between them, paper plates perched between them on a bench. They reach for the same squashed hamburger at once; Taiga’s fingertips brush Tatsuya’s knuckles.

The setting sun makes Taiga’s hair look even redder in its tinted light, strands almost like miniature sunbeams themselves casting light on his face. His lips are warm and slick with deep-fryer grease, and Tatsuya lets them linger on his mouth even though there’s no reflection to shield them and they’re trapped in the open summer air.


End file.
